Musical Notes: Dogs.

My dog likes the song, "The Poor People of Paris," aka, "Have You Ev-er Been to France? All They Ev-er Do Is Dance..." This is a 1956 orchestrated instrumental, (by Les somebody), with lots of whistling. (And a tilt of the hat to Offenbach, the Barry Manilow of classical music - ba-boom). My dog also liked it when I whistled and snapped my fingers to it today. I had another dog who really liked Brahms. We used to dance a lot. Dancing wouldn't go over too well in this place.

My dog likes to howl when the ambulances get near. Or when they test the tornado sirens every month. I refer to these things as, "dog music," which he understands. If I really urge him to bark, or to, "do the dog music," he will focus enough and do it. I like when he howls outside. It really is a wonderful spectacle, and all the heads in the cars gaze upon it like it is a movie.

Sometimes, cars go by with dogs in them, and some of those dogs are nice, but some go crazy barking at my dog, who is just minding his own business. The nerve. I don't know how and why so many dogs get screwed up, but there are a lot of screwed up dogs here. They bark way more than the dogs in Ye Olde City, or Madison. In Madison, which is a very progressive town, the dogs are well respected and cheerful. You won't find too many crazy old bald men in Madison, banging and stomping and slamming, over the mere sound of a dog upstairs...